Chapter 74: Rodent Evolutionary Rat

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Rodent Evolutionary Rat

Xiaqing coaxed in a soft, low voice, "The most dangerous red Harmful Rain is falling right now, so any plant could undergo an aggressive Qiang Evolution. We can’t take off our Protective Masks. We’ll eat after the rain stops, okay?"

After speaking, Xiaqing took out a small piece of compressed rations to distract the Sheep Leader.

The Sheep Leader immediately gave up on the Evolved Perilla and trotted over to Xiaqing. "BAA—"

The Sheep Leader’s punchably cutesy bleat entered Xiaqing’s mind through her earpiece. Xiaqing fought back the urge to butcher the fat sheep, stuffed the compressed biscuit into the Sheep Leader’s Protective Suit pocket, and led it further up the mountain.

Passing by the alfalfa, the Sheep Leader wanted to stop again. Xiaqing, losing her patience, grabbed it by the horns and forcibly dragged it upward into the terraced field of Green Light Pumpkins.

Thankfully, these five pumpkin plants hadn’t undergone Qiang Evolution. Continuing upward were the scallion, ginger, garlic, and chive fields, which also hadn’t mutated—another stroke of luck. Further up still were three terraced fields of peanuts, which also remained normal—a massive relief.

Then, Xiaqing returned to the terraced field below the three peanut plots, where one hundred sweet potato vines grew from cuttings. She dug up twelve sweet potato seedlings that had undergone Qiang Evolution. As before, it was the seedlings near the left and right edges of the shelter that had mutated.

After leaving the shelter and reinforcing the drainage ditches, Xiaqing led the Sheep Leader back to the cabin.

After sealing the doors and windows tight, she took out the Air Detector to confirm the indoor air was non-toxic. Only then did Xiaqing remove her own and the Sheep Leader’s Protective Mask. She praised the Sheep Leader profusely, then took the small piece of rations from its Protective Suit pocket, crushed it, and mixed it into its feed.

While the Sheep Leader ate its feed, Xiaqing gnawed on compressed rations to stave off her hunger and replied to messages from Luo Pei, Hu Zifeng, and Sun Zhe, letting them know she was safe. It was now just after three in the afternoon, and the red-level Harmful Rain had stopped.

Xiaqing set an alarm for half an hour, seizing the chance to rest and build up her strength for the next round of Harmful Rain.

The walkie-talkie was silent. The Lords of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Territories were also seizing the opportunity to rest.

Xiaqing instructed the Sheep Leader, "Leader, I’m tired. I need to sleep for a bit. You keep an eye out the window and wake me if you see anything wrong."

Based on the Sheep Leader’s reaction to the Qiang-Evolved Pumpkin Vine, Xiaqing was certain this gluttonous sheep had a way of determining the danger level of Qiang-Evolved Plants.

No wonder it had managed to survive in the Evolution Forest all by itself.

After finishing its feed, the Sheep Leader, which had been munching away quietly, CLIPPITY-CLOPPED over to the bedside. It watched Xiaqing for a moment before turning to chew its cud while staring out the window.

When Xiaqing was woken by her alarm, the Sheep Leader was still in position, monitoring the view outside. Xiaqing rubbed its head. "Thanks, Leader. I’m rested up. I’m going to patrol the rain shelters again. You coming?"

The Sheep Leader could sense the danger of Qiang-Evolved Plants. Taking it with her was like bringing a living danger detector.

The Sheep Leader turned its head toward the Protective Mask. Its meaning was obvious: it wanted to go too. After all, patrolling the rain shelters meant getting tasty treats.

The human and sheep pair geared up in their protective equipment and cleared out more than twenty Qiang-Evolved crops on their second patrol.

Then came the third and fourth patrols.

The rain stopped at dusk. A sliver of light appeared in the west; the sun, hidden all day, made a brief appearance before clocking out on time.

With the sun out, it was unlikely to rain for at least two hours.

Xiaqing took advantage of the last bit of light, climbing onto the cabin roof. With her Visual and auditory senses fully engaged, she scanned the Buffer Forest within the Third Territory. Only after finding no signs of obvious Qiang Evolution in the large trees did she lead the Sheep Leader home.

The path home was covered in knee-high Injurious Grass, but it was much sparser than the grass that had sprouted after the first Harmful Rain two months ago. This was normal; Xiaqing had already cleared out the remaining roots and seeds in the soil once, reducing their number.

Xiaqing pulled on thick gloves made of rainproof cloth and began pulling up the Injurious Grass as she walked, stuffing it into two large baskets slung over the Sheep Leader’s back. She didn’t stop until she reached two small rain shelters.

Here were two small patches of Red Light peanuts. Although the fruit of Red Light Plants was inedible, Xiaqing still wanted to see if they would flower and bear fruit, so she had built two small, five- or six-square-meter shelters for them.

Xiaqing lifted the shelter’s cloth and found that nearly a quarter of the Red Light peanuts had undergone Qiang Evolution. Unfortunately, the mutation only resulted in rampant leaf growth, not flowers. After cautiously touching them and confirming the mutated peanuts weren’t dangerous, she cleared them out, stuffed them into the baskets on the Sheep Leader, and continued toward home.

When she and the Sheep Leader returned to their home, its yard overgrown with Injurious Grass, she immediately relaxed.

"Shit!"

Xiaqing’s moment of sentimentality was cut short by her own curse. She had spotted four Evolutionary Rats on the roof, chewing on the rainproof cloth covering her solar panels!

Upon seeing a human, the Evolutionary Rats not only didn’t flee, but they even bared their gleaming white incisors in a clear challenge.

’You dare try to wreck my house? I’ll take your lives!’

Xiaqing swiftly drew her Handgun and aimed at the most arrogant-looking Evolutionary Rat, the one perched highest up, which was even larger than a goose.

"PFFT!"

The sound from the silenced Handgun wasn’t loud, but it was more than enough to blow the Evolutionary Rat’s head apart!

The thoroughly dead Evolutionary Rat hadn’t even rolled off the solar panel before Xiaqing’s second and third shots rang out. With each gunshot, another rat fell.

Attacking the massive Evolutionary Rats at close range, the Level 9 Visual Evolver Xiaqing didn’t waste a single Bullet. The last Evolutionary Rat saw its companions die and immediately fled north.

North was the direction of the farmlands!

"Leader, guard the house! I’m going after the rat," Xiaqing said, immediately giving chase to the rapidly fleeing rodent. Her own Speed wasn’t as fast as the rat’s, but no matter how fast it was, it couldn’t escape her field of vision in just a few seconds. If she couldn’t catch up, she’d use her gun.

"BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!"

After five shots from her unsilenced submachine pistol, Xiaqing, bristling with killing intent, stuffed the last Evolutionary Rat—which had taken four wasted bullets to kill—into a sealed bag. She then quickly returned home, masking the smell of blood on the ground as she went.

With no time to check the solar panels, Xiaqing immediately cleaned up the scene and sprayed Deodorant to prevent the smell of blood from attracting other Evolutionary Creatures.

Only after cleaning up did Xiaqing inspect her solar panels. The rats had chewed through half of one of the four panels, exposing the electrical wires sheathed in steel pipes underneath.

It was a good thing she had returned in time. Otherwise, the rats would have gotten into the house through the wiring holes. Xiaqing went inside and thoroughly inspected the interior.

The house had been recently renovated and was clean and tidy. After finding no trace of any rats having entered, Xiaqing pressed the button on her walkie-talkie. "Attention everyone. Four rodent-type Evolutionary Rats have entered the Third Territory. They’re the size of adult geese and have chewed through half a solar panel."

Xiaqing had just finished speaking when a burst of static and noise came from the walkie-talkie, followed by Tang Huai from the Second Territory, cursing and swearing, "The same type of Evolutionary Rats have appeared in the Second Territory, at least fifty of them."

Hearing this, Zhao Ze also panicked. "Xiaqing, where did you find your Evolutionary Rats? Are they close to Territory No. 4?"

Xiaqing pressed the button. "In the village, one kilometer from Territory No. 4."

One kilometer was extremely close. Zhao Ze said frantically, "I’ll send people to patrol immediately."

Tan Junjie spoke up as well. "Rodent-type Evolutionary Rats are extremely dangerous and must be eliminated as soon as possible. The extermination team requests permission to enter the Second and Third Territories to clear out the Evolutionary Rats."

Tang Huai objected, "The Second Territory can handle it. We don’t need help."

Xiaqing gave her permission. "The Third Territory grants access."

Zhao Ze chimed in, "Captain Tan, could I trouble you to check if any Evolutionary Rats have entered Territory No. 4 as well?"

"Roger that. We’ll head to the Third Territory first, where the rats have been spotted, then go to Territory No. 4. If the Second Territory cannot completely eliminate the Evolutionary Rats within half an hour, the extermination team will, in accordance with Article 13 of the Territory Law, apply to the Territory Management Department for forced entry to eliminate the threat." After Tan Junjie’s calm reply, the Lord channel fell deathly silent.

Hu Zifeng from No.1 Territory spoke up. "A large number of rats from the Second Territory have run into No.1 Territory. No.1 Territory is currently exterminating them. Tang Huai, you better hope I don’t see you!"